Cleveland Cavaliers @ Minnesota Timberwolves
Thursday, January 8, 2026 at 8:00 PM ET
Target Center, Minneapolis, MN | Game ID: 22500530
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
MIN 32 31 43 25 131CLE 31 36 22 33 122
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
T-wolves beat Cavaliers 131-122 behind Randle's 28 points, set season highs for shooting percentages
MINNEAPOLIS -- — Julius Randle had 28 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists to help the Minnesota Timberwolves hang on to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 131-122 on Thursday night for their fourth consecutive victory.
Anthony Edwards added 25 points, nine assists and seven rebounds while becoming the third-youngest player in NBA history to reach 10,000 career points, following LeBron James and Kevin Durant . Edwards, who is 24 years and 156 days old, hit the five-digit mark with a 13-foot fadeaway jumper midway through the fourth quarter. Only seven players ever have hit the five-digit mark before 25.
Randle scored 13 points in the third quarter as the Timberwolves built a 20-point lead while outscoring the Cavaliers 43-22 to match the team's season high for points in any period. Jaden McDaniels had 26 points on 11-for-14 shooting, and Donte DiVincenzo went 6 for 10 from 3-point range to finish with 22 points as Minnesota fended off a late Cavaliers surge.
The Timberwolves (25-13) improved to 15-5 since Thanksgiving Day, the best record in the NBA over that span. They started the game on a 17-5 run and finished with season highs in field goal shooting (51 for 89, 57%) and 3-point shooting (20 for 38, 53%) percentages.
Sam Merrill had 11 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, hitting a 3-pointer with 2:56 left for Cleveland that cut the deficit to four. Donovan Mitchell had 30 points and eight assists for the Cavaliers (21-18), who played without forward Dean Wade after he left their previous game with a bruised left knee.
The Timberwolves held a pregame moment of silence for Renee Good, the 37-year-old woman who was fatally shot in her car on Wednesday by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.
Up next The Cavaliers and Timberwolves finish their two-game season series with the rematch in Cleveland on Saturday afternoon.
MIN KarmaHide StintsShow StintsHide PMShow PMHide KarmaShow KarmaHide ScoresShow Scores
Who
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
CLECP C. Porter Jr.
DG D. Garland
DH D. Hunter
DM D. Mitchell
EM E. Mobley
JA J. Allen
JT J. Tyson
NT N. Tomlin
SM S. Merrill
MINAE A. Edwards
BH B. Hyland
DD D. DiVincenzo
JC J. Clark
JM J. McDaniels
JR J. Randle
MC M. Conley
NR N. Reid
RG R. Gobert
CLE/MIN the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur